2/12
Shut Up and Sing (US;
2006; d. Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck)
When Dixie Chicks
vocalist Natalie Maines ignited a raging controversy by declaring—from
a London stage on the eve of the conflict in Iraq—“Just so you know,
we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas”—Barbara
Kopple’s cameras were rolling. Award winning documentary filmmaker Kopple
(American Dream, 1990, and Harlan County, USA, 1976) has an
uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time. This “seriously
entertaining highlight of the fall season” follows the Dixie Chicks in
performance and off stage for three years, creating fascinating perspectives
on the ensuing controversies, says Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
film critic. (R; 93 min.)
2/26
For Your Consideration (US; 2006;
d. Christopher Guest)
From the minds that created This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for
Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind comes a satirical
look at America’s obsession with the Motion Picture Academy Awards, more
commonly known as the Oscars. Christopher Guest wrote, directed, and stars in
this self-effacing parody of the making of a schmaltzy Hollywood movie titled
Home for Purim that suddenly starts generating Oscar buzz on the Internet.
Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com praises the ensemble cast for being
“so in sync with one another that their repartee is sometimes more like
dance than comedy.” (PG-13; 86 min.)
3/5
Four Minutes/Vier Minuten (Germany;
2006; d. Chris Kraus)***
This film
by German director Chris Kraus deals with the complex relationship between Traude
(Monica Bleibtreu), an older woman, and Jenny, an emotionally scarred but prodigiously
talented young musician (Hannah Herzsprung). What makes this relationship unusual
is that it takes place almost entirely within the confines of a prison, where
Traude has been teaching piano to inmates and to which Jenny has been sentenced.
Leslie Felperin of Variety writes that although the “plot might
sound superficially like a castoff storyline from Oz . . . crossed
with Shine,” the film reaches an intense climax that transcends
predictability. (NR; 112 min.)
***Presented in conjunction with Out at the Movies, the North Country LGBT Film Festival***
3/12
Mutual Appreciation (US; 2006;
d. Andrew Bujalski)
Alan
travels to New York City in search of a band and rock stardom. His ambitions
are supported by radio host and potential love interest Sara, his old friend
Lawrence, and Lawrence’s girlfriend Ellie. Alan’s social awkwardness,
drive, and talent become, through the marvelous direction of Andrew Bujalski,
a comical and poignant window on the culture of urban twentysomethings. Comparisons
with the films of John Cassavetes abound in the critical acclaim Bujalski’s
work has received. “If this is the sound of the new generation,”
writes Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman, “then it
may be the first generation cautious enough to embrace friendship as mightier
than love.” (R; 110 min.)
3/19
Deliver Us from Evil (US; 2006;
d. Amy Berg)
Amy Berg’s
shocking documentary, which Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun Times) describes
as “one of the best and most important documentaries you’ll ever
see,” is an investigation into the life of Catholic Priest Oliver O’Grady.
Although identified by the Catholic Church as a pedophile in the early 1970s,
O’Grady continued for more than a decade to serve as a priest and sexually
abuse children. Berg draws on interview footage of O’Grady and his victims
to build a solid case against an institution committed to protecting its leaders
whatever the cost. “Ms. Berg’s film is clear-sighted, tough-minded
and devastating, a portrait of individual criminality and institutional indifference,
a study in the betrayal of trust and the irresponsibility of authority,”
says A.O. Scott of The New York Times. (NR; 101 min.)
4/2
Something Like Happiness/Stestí
(Czech Republic; 2005; d. Bohdan Sláma)
A
run-down factory town in the Czech Republic forms the backdrop for this bittersweet
film from director Bohdan Sláma. The film focuses on the lives of three
friends—Toník (Pavel Liska), Monika (Tatiana Vilhelmová),
and Dasha (Ana Geilserová)—who are struggling to find happiness
in an industrial wasteland on the fringes of a modern nation. Ty Burr of The
Boston Globe calls Something Like Happiness a “beautiful
little film” that is noteworthy for its “comic, touching glimpses
into a society run aground.” (NR; 102 min.)
4/9
The Death of Mr. Lazarescu/Moartea
domnului Lazarescu (Romania; 2005; d. Cristi Puiu)
Cigarettes and
drink have taken their toll, and Mr. Lazarescu feels ill enough to call an ambulance.
Before the end of his odyssey through various emergency rooms, Mr. Lazarescu
is deprived of his humanity by his neighbors, who at first ignore his calls
for help, and by the callousness and clinical distance of physicians and nurses
doing their jobs. Humanity is resurrected in the care delivered by the attending
nurse, Mioara, whose sense of cool duty animates this dark comedy. “The
Death of Mr. Lazarescu,” wrote Peter Rainer, film critic for The
Christian Science Monitor, “is a heartbreakingly powerful masterpiece
that affected me far more deeply than any other film I’ve seen all year.”
(R; 150 min.)
4/16
Half Nelson (US; 2006; d. Ryan
Fleck)
Dan (Ryan Gosling, nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor) is a
white junior high school teacher at a inner-city school, intent on inspiring
his student to question everything around them. Drey (Shareeka Epps), one of
his troubled students, is at a turning point in her life. Their unlikely friendship
blooms when Drey discovers Dan in a drug-induced stupor in the school bathroom.
According to David Edelstein of New York Magazine, Half
Nelson is “a terrifically compelling character study and a tricky
exploration of the links (and busted links) between the personal and the political.”
(NR; 106 min.)
4/23
Hacking Democracy (US; 2006; d.
Simon Ardizzone and Russell Michaels)***
This
documentary raises questions about the accuracy and security of electronic voting
machines by following activist Bev Harris (founder of blackboxvoting.org) as
she attempts to get information both from election officials advocating the
use of the machines and from the corporations who produce them. After being
stonewalled, Harris enlists the help of a pair of computer specialists and a
Florida election supervisor who together produce an experiment to test the machines’
security. Farhad Manjoo of Salon.com notes that the film “documents
a parade of electoral ineptitude stretching from sea to shining sea” without
resorting to simple partisanship or conspiracy theory. (NR; 82 min.)
Appearance by the Producer, Robert Carillo Cohen 
***Presented
in conjunction with Connections and Intersections: Our Changing Landscapes,
SUNY Potsdam's Campus Festival***
4/30
Army of Shadows/L'armée Des
Ombres (France; 1969; d. Jean-Pierre Melville)
This French classic is
receiving its first American release at long last. Army of Shadows
is celebrated for capturing the physical danger and psychological tension of
those who fought Nazism in the French Resistance. The film’s director,
Jean-Pierre Melville, was himself a member of the underground. Survival depended
on secrecy, skill, and luck. Victory was never assured, and uncertainty about
the future is affirmed in the film’s final scene. Army of Shadows
arrives in the United States at just the right moment when we “need to
be reminded that ostentatious heroism trumpeted by leaders is not necessarily
the way it plays out on the ground,” says Los Angeles Times critic
Kenneth Turan. (NR; 145 min.)
Cinema 10 is a non-profit, volunteer group which presents alternative film programming. We work to bring the best in American independent and foreign films to North Country audiences. If you have a suggestion or would like to get involved, please e-mail Holly Chambers. The Cinema 10 Board members are Chris Affre, Fran Bailey, Holly Chambers, Ed Clark, Viki Levitt, Anne Malone, Hilary Oak, Celine Philibert, Chris Robinson, Eric Schultze, David Sommerstein, Christino Tamon, and Donna Williamson.
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